2 years into the future!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Hello world.

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Well, to be exact, it has been 2 years since my last post already! Lots have happened since then. I changed jobs, finally being able to take up my "dream" job (the "" being it was what I thought, but no longer thinks now... more on that later) which is in an oil & gas company. I also got married. And now I'm living in Sarawak. No longer staying in the Klang Valley.

It is surprising what can happen in 2 years' time don't you think? I think 2 years ago, I wouldn't even dream of being able to work in an oil & gas company; let alone staying in Sarawak!

Come to think of it, what could happen in 2 years' time? I wonder...

I'm at work currently so I don't want to spend too much time blogging. Maybe next time guys. Hope it won't be another 2 years to my next post! Heheh.

See ya...

Posted by Nikman Shah at 12:14 PM
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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Wow. Time really flies. Let me look back at my last real post... 4 months ago??? Waaay before the World Cup, even. Not surprisingly, lots have happened since then, so without delay, let's go on shall we?

ABOUT MY WORK (If you're less interested about it, look for the next heading below - it's a huge announcement!)

First things first: my dear blog readers, you guys (if you've read my previous entries), of all people, should have known that I have been thinking of resigning from my current company since March (around 2 months since I started working there). So, what happened? Did I follow through with my action plan? NO. Yup, you read it right, no.

No??? Well, the thing is, I've been feeling more and more comfortable with my job. I know, the future of a manufacturing environment is not that positive (with China being an ever-growing threat consisting of cheap labour), and the fact that my so-called R&D job experience is not a very impressive thing that can be explained during job interviews, haven't yet left my mind. I know my current company is not something that I look forward to in the future. The most, I think I'll only be staying here for 2 years. That's the maximum limit.

Back to what I was saying. I'm feeling more comfortable with my job. I've known what problems to expect, how to solve, whom to refer to when a problem arises, whom to please, whom to never ever displease, etc. I can't yet say that my job is a cinch, but at least I'm not as pressurised as I was within the first 3 months of my employment here. And I must say the starting pay (and my current pay) is very satisfying.

However, the manufacturing industry's salary scale is not as attractive as the oil & gas industry's: that is why I'm very much thinking of moving to an oil & gas companies. But before that, a I've went to a lot of interviews ever since I started to work. Let me list them down here:

1. Motorola R&D Penang - Rejected the offer given to me
2. Protank - Didn't pass the interview
3. Schlumberger - Didn't pass the 2nd stage of interview
4. OYL Manufacturing - Rejected the offer given to me
5. KNM - Rejected the offer given to me

That's about it. Went to 5 interviews, failed 2, offered 3 jobs, but rejected them all. With reasons, of course. Am I too choosy? I don't know... but I certainly feel that they're not suitable for me... either the pay is too low compared to my current job, or the location is too far away, or sometimes because of some other non-quantifiable factors, too.

But let's not despair. I'll wait for better job offers. As I said before, I'm seriously targeting oil & gas companies. Ranhill gave me a call this morning and said that my CV has just been passed to their hiring manager. Good then. I'll try my best for that interview, and pray and hope for the best.

THE HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT (As mentioned above! ;))

Enough about work then. What huge announcement? Let's go straight to the point: I'm engaged! Yup, I finally have a lovely fiancee, and next year, I'll be married, insyaAllah... The date? 3rd February, 2007. Can't wait for it though. I'm loving every moment of my engaged life. Trying to get closer to my fiancee Kimmy's family, making them feel comfortable having me as part of their life. And also in the process of doing the same thing for Kimmy with my family.

Can't wait to feel how married life is. So far I've only been thinking about it, but experiencing it is another matter altogether. Well, that's the huge announcement la. Hehe. Nothing else. I'd love to put pictures of my engagement ceremony, but haven't yet selected which of them to be copied from my photographer Ezwan, so will put that on hold first. :)

Till my next update guys! Thanks for reading!

Posted by Nikman Shah at 2:41 AM
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Sunday, July 16, 2006

Guys, bear with me! Sorry for not being able to post for a very long time... I'll post during lunchtime tomorrow. I'll try...

Posted by Nikman Shah at 10:30 PM
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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Anybody know how the work is at OYL? I got an offer to work for them, and currently in the process of thinking...

Posted by Nikman Shah at 1:09 PM
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Monday, April 24, 2006

I wanted to update my blog this weekend, but there were too many things to do & take care of. I'll see what I can do tomorrow afternoon. Wait for it! :)

Posted by Nikman Shah at 2:01 AM
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Thursday, April 06, 2006

I'm typing this entry while watching the Champions League match between Arsenal & Juventus. Good stuff, especially for me who supports Arsenal. Coz they're leading 2-0 on aggregate. :)

Also bought Coffee Bean's Iced Cafe Latte to help keep me up this early morning. But it doesn't taste quite as good as Starbuck's Iced Caramel Machiatto. I guess it's due to me keeping it in the fridge for a few hours before drinking it.

There goes another RM13.13.

I did write in my previous post that I bought a new handphone. Yup, it is a Sony Ericsson K600i. Bought it coz my previous Nokia 7650 phone malfunctioned. It cannot turn on: the power button finally gave way. But that finally gave me a reason to buy a new phone. And I like Sony Ericsson phones. Their shape, display, graphics, etc are really exquisite.

I'd prefer the smartphone-type ones though, such as their P series, but that's asking too much lah. The P series cost at least near RM2000, if I'm not mistaken. This K600i I bought at a price of RM850. Quite okay lah.

By the way, I strangely got an e-mail from Schlumberger, notifying me for a 2nd stage of interview for a Field Engineer position. Bizarre really, coz my 1st interview with them was sometime in January, if you guys might recall. It's either they are really calling me for the interview or they accidentally e-mailed me that interview request. In any case, I'll ask them this morning to confirm.

The interview will be next Thursday, and I think I'll just go ahead and try. Just for fun and for interview experience. As you again might recall, my 1st stage interview with Schlumberger was disastrous. But it might not have been as disastrous as I have initially thought, if it is true that I did get this 2nd interview.

Entah camna la agaknye interview tu nanti. Kita cuba & lihat...:P

Posted by Nikman Shah at 3:34 AM
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Well, whaddaya know?

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Hmmm... what a weird 2 weeks it has been. Since the time that I blogged about not being able to attend the interview with Mooke's company due to a misunderstanding... well whaddaya know? The end of that week, I got a call from them saying that they agree to reschedule my interview on this just past Monday!

How did the interview go? Schweet. It wasn't too hard, nor was it too easy. Even though I felt the questions being asked were too soft and sometimes irrelevant, somehow I had the feeling that they were trying to analyse me from a different point of view, so I tried to never let my guard down all along the interview. The result? I felt quite confident of my performance, just like how I felt confident after Panasonic's & Motorola's interviews. But we'll have to wait & see what the actual results would be...

And after all that, I forgot to ask them how long would I have to wait before they would announce my results! Mooke, help me out here okay? Do tell me after what period of time should I know whether I pass or not? Or should I do a follow-up call / e-mail?

And after all the anguish, all the frustration, all the pain that I felt during the past few weeks about working here in Panasonic, I somehow was (and am) able to get over them. Slowly. Somehow, I currently feel that all the job that's being given to me is QUITE manageable. I mean, I'm slowly getting used to them.

I guess that's working life for you. As a fresh grad, it will start off as something totally frustrating, but as time goes by, you'll eventually get the hang of it.

Make no mistake though... I'm still leaving. I'm either going to Motorola, or taking up a better offer closer to PJ. Even with me getting used with all these "work", I still don't see a bright future by staying with Panasonic.

Considering that fact, this means that I have around a few weeks left to go before I really have to submit my resignation letter. Probation ends on 12th April... That's less than 2 weeks from now!!! To take advantage of the 2 weeks notice period of resignation during the probation period, I need to submit the letter before that date!

Failing that, I will have a notice period of 1 month, but if possible, I'd like May to be totally free for me to spend time with everyone (and prepare myself) before I would most probably move to Penang...

Let's continue job hunting! (while working...)

Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys... I got a new phone. Sony Ericsson K600i. Will talk about it later. Adios!

Posted by Nikman Shah at 9:36 PM
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